My Brain to Yours: Chapter 1 - How the design of your resume can help you.

(reposted from GBS, but will be the first of many)

I apologize for my writing skills, I am an Art Director and Designer. If I had to write my way into dinner I would end up hungry many many days. I would also like to say everything I say is of course my opinion, but a good one I believe after working in this industry for many year. I hope everything I write to you will help you grow your skills and career.

This first article is geared not only toward the creative industry but to anybody with a resume. In fact this probably has helped more non creative people get a job, for the simple fact that many designers get their jobs based on a portfolio, and hardly every a resume. I rarely ever base my decision for hiring a designer based on their resume. The portfolio is what matters most, after that the resume just helps me to see if they are Jr. or Sr, their previous employers and maybe their interests, which do mean something for a designer. But for those in the non creative realm, a resume is your life line.

There have been many lists and websites created to assist you in creating a resume. A recent list that I found interesting can be found here.
How To Make An Impression w/ Your Resume in 30 Secondshttp://www.randsinrepose.com/archiv...and_a_hook.html
These are good things to adhere to as far as CONTENT goes.

But even these so called templates have many flaws in them. This article will show you how to make your resume stand out by the design alone.

First off the one thing I want to let you know is by design, I am mainly referring to the "Layout" of a resume. Many designers try to stand out by creating a resume that has pictures, colors, logos and such. Many other people try to use Color Paper, fancy stupid fonts and more. I find these things more distracting than helpful. Some resumes that are designed with colors and graphics are nice and show a glimpse into an illustrators personality, etc. But if you do design your resume in this manner you better be drat sure it is really really good and have a reason behind it. AKA. Maybe an illustrators resume is all drawn. But it still better be awesome or it will come across cheesy. They also can be a big clue into how amateurish you are. Designing a resume in this manner is usually seen in younger people.

Now, how can a layout help you stand out? And also how can the layout I am about to show you help you stand out?

Well like I said before, the resume templates often are the same style... 1 page .. everything separated by a line or box, and above all, these layouts make it very hard to fit your information onto 1 page.

(a Bad resume layout)

I agree when people say, keep your resume on 1 page. I think the only time this does not apply is if you are a big time Boss with many years of experience and need to almost make your resume, an essay. But for the majority of us, 1 page is ideal.

So when I started out in this industry I had a resume like this. I found it very hard to fit everything on one page and I also hated the fact that my resume looked like everybody else's. I then started to design a resume using colors and logos the works. I took a step back and hated what I just did. It was over kill. I then spent the next few days figuring out how to make a resume work without making it a gimmick.

I finally figured the problem out by reading a newspaper one morning. The reason a newspaper has many columns is to break up the information for easy reading, pleasing to the eye and the ability to fit many different stories onto one page.

I applied the same reasoning to this design. I ordered things by importance to the reader. I laid everything out in a way that will not only make it incredibly easy for the end user to read, but in one fell swoop made it easy to fit all the information you need on 1 page, without making it seem like a huge wall of text. Sort of like the old homepage of Something Awful. It was great content, but many people including myself were turned off by it. You have no idea how many compliments I get on this layout.

I then set out to help my non designer friends graduating from college. They adapted this layout for their "resume" and resume classes a person takes their senior year. The first thing their teachers said was pretty much, this is stupid and doesn't look like a resume. My friends disagreed. I disagreed. It is common knowledge that many Professors are way out of touch with the real world. They may be book smart but are slow to change.

So off my friends went submitting their new resumes to companies. Everyone of them got a call back to many interviews. During the interview every single one of the bosses said a big reason they were called back was how the resume caught their eye in a good way, a professional way.

The bosses then went on to let every one of them know how the loved the layout of the resume and how easy it was to read it. They even said that it didn't look cluttered. Seeing a trend here? Did I sneak ahead and fill these bosses ears with this info? No, when you design an interface or layout in a very usable way, people will notice. They might not realize why it is easier and better, but they will notice. An example is the first time we used the Scroll Wheel on the ipod.

Well, there really is not much more I can say about this topic other than, buy using this layout or one similar, using the grid system and a newspaper type layout, you will have the edge on other the applicants without having to dip to the lows of using Bright Yellow paper or Fancy Fonts, colors and logos.

Anyway, I really encourage you to try this resume out and see what the people you submit it to say.

If you are not sure how to create a resume like this, I would consider using a program such as InDesign, Illustrator, Quark, etc., a page layout program. You can make this with word, but it is much harder to accomplish. Learning a page layout program can also really help you with your computer skills down the road. Also try and use a simple smaller font. Helvetica, Arial, Verdana. Or try this nice free font LACUNA http://www.glashaus-design.com/site/glashaus.html found on this site. t It is a bit narrower and will help with your formating. Also this font might work nicely too. http://typo3.org/teams/design/style...the-typo3-font/

Another thing you might not notice is that all my headers are lined up horizontally with another header. This really really helps with organization and cleanliness. Really try and keep your resume's content buckets and headers like this.

So, as you might have noticed this is Chapter 1 of... many.

Here are a few of the next chapters I will be posting on in the future:

2: The Mighty Portfolio - What to do and not to do.

3: Is art school or the traditional college art program/design program really worth it?

4. How do I get better at... whatever I am trying to do without floundering around. And how to get good at 1 thing and not sorta good at many things.

I am particularly unsure of where I would/should go to school. Right now I have an extreme interest in getting into the film post production/video game industry.

Originally I was going to take some general ed credits and then transfer them over to SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design in Georgia) but then I decided that it might just be too big of a hassle to do all of that and get out of schooling before I turn 30. Right now I'm 20 and I plan on going to a school, not exactly sure which one, but later next August or something.

Right now I'm located south of Boston, approximately 45 minutes and I would just like some suggestions on good options for schooling for the subject that I'd like to persue.

One of the things that attracted me to SCAD was their massive budget and how they spend alot of their money on progressing their courses like Visual FX, with mocap areas, student facilities, etc.

Right now I'm considering Massachusetts College of Art ( http://www.massart.edu ) but I haven't really gotten to talk to anybody that goes there. And I'm not sure if they exactly have what I'm looking for in coursework (a combination of film and 3D elements)

Anyways, sorry to rant. I'm just very eager to hear some suggestions or recommendations. Right now I'm working on my portfolio located at http://www.curtisbinder.com

Thanks for the awesome thread, look forward to hearing from your next posts.

Come September I will be at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) for my freshman undergraduate year. At the moment I'm confused on what major I should choose. I applied and got accepted to the school for there Broadcast Design and Motion Graphics program, but lately I haven't been able to find any student feedback or information on it. I decided that it was the program I wanted to major in after I talked extensively with a SCAD representative at a college fair around December of 2006.

Lately I've been looking into it and realized I would enjoy majoring in Visual Effects just as much as Broadcast Design and Motion Graphics. I was wondering if one major has a better job market, career opportunity, pay rate, ect. than the other post bachelors degree. I was hoping I could get some sort of insight on what a degree in Broadcast Design and Motion graphics could do for me compared to a Visual Effects degree.

Seeing as there seems to be a decent goon population at SCAD, any information on the school that could make my freshman year a bit easier is more than appreciated.

I'd like to know how I can wedge my way into a portrait, product and/or fashion photography studio as an assistant. It's simple to find a wedding photographer who needs help, but I can hardly get a foot in the door anywhere else.

Perhaps I just need a better, targeted portfolio, but I've read that even fantastic portfolios are often ignored.

Nihiliste posted:

I'd like to know how I can wedge my way into a portrait, product and/or fashion photography studio as an assistant. It's simple to find a wedding photographer who needs help, but I can hardly get a foot in the door anywhere else.

Perhaps I just need a better, targeted portfolio, but I've read that even fantastic portfolios are often ignored.

Unfortunately I cannot say what will surely get you the position that you want, but I cannot stress the importance of forming a social network. Start meeting new people, and get to know people who may be able to get you to where you want to be.
As for your portfolio - be very careful about having wedding photography in your portfolio. Any creative director that is looking to hire out a photographer will be immediately turned off unless your other work is God's gift to the world. They are not looking for a wedding photographer; Only people having weddings look for wedding photographers.

Alezunde posted:

Unfortunately I cannot say what will surely get you the position that you want, but I cannot stress the importance of forming a social network. Start meeting new people, and get to know people who may be able to get you to where you want to be.
As for your portfolio - be very careful about having wedding photography in your portfolio. Any creative director that is looking to hire out a photographer will be immediately turned off unless your other work is God's gift to the world. They are not looking for a wedding photographer; Only people having weddings look for wedding photographers.

Nihiliste posted:

Sounds like good advice, but how do I get to meeting these people?

One way that you might go about it is by starting with your peers. Make friends with people who are into photography, especially since some of them already have networks of their own. If you see some work on the internet or anyplace that you can easily contact the photographer, drop them a line and compliment them on their work. Just continue to talk to them, discuss photography, learn as much as you can from them. Let them learn some tricks from you as well. It's not just a social or professional experience, it's also social. As your network grows, you'll find that it'll get easier to expand even more.

Edit: If they have business cards or promo materials and such, help yourself to them. And make sure to be pretty diligent in keeping all of this information. Make sure that it's as effortless as possible to reference it later when you might need it. Names and contact info especially.

Alezunde posted:

One way that you might go about it is by starting with your peers. Make friends with people who are into photography, especially since some of them already have networks of their own. If you see some work on the internet or anyplace that you can easily contact the photographer, drop them a line and compliment them on their work. Just continue to talk to them, discuss photography, learn as much as you can from them. Let them learn some tricks from you as well. It's not just a social or professional experience, it's also social. As your network grows, you'll find that it'll get easier to expand even more.

Edit: If they have business cards or promo materials and such, help yourself to them. And make sure to be pretty diligent in keeping all of this information. Make sure that it's as effortless as possible to reference it later when you might need it. Names and contact info especially.

Thanks. Still leaves me with a lot of work to do (before I can get more work), but it's a start.

My studio is looking for a new hire - this is a GREAT opportunity for anyone fresh out of school, with up to 2 or 3 years of experience, looking to make a career in Photoshop and Design. This is in North Jersey, about 25 miles west of NYC and near major highways (287, 80).

Job Description:
We are a digital imaging group within a successful, busy, growing advertising agency. Our department is small but we expand rapidly via an extensive network of high-end freelance imagers and retouchers. This is an environment rich in diverse challenges and opportunities and talents. We are open to sharing skills, techniques and ideas. We work within a structure that allows each of us to take over or hand off a project to another digital artist; yet we each take personal pride in our images and how we achieve them. We serve Art Directors who know exactly what they want, as well as Art Directors who want us to supply creative vision. We retouch images for publication, and create comp imagery at a level some would consider final art.

You are an incredibly talented digital artist at the beginning of your career: very strong in Photoshop and mid-level to advanced 3-D abilities.

The position we seek to fill is a springboard. It will take a talented and smart beginner and develop them into a sharp, seasoned professional. The candidate we hire will maintain and add to our Digital Imaging Group’s reputation as a center for perfection and miracles. Select candidates will be asked to solve a few test image challenges in our studio.

end

This is an opportunity to do big budget, high-end work and would provide one of the best learning environments someone getting started in this field could want - there's a heavy rotation of very experienced freelancers to learn from, as well as high standards for the work that comes out of this studio.

It's a nice studio in a modern place. Relaxed environment, nice equipment, etc... It is NOT a 9-5 job, but you won't work a 60 hour week, either.

If you are qualified and interested, email me your resume and samples (before and afters preferred, if you have then). I'll answer any specifics (other than company name and address) through email, PM, or this thread. I will also answer any more general questions about my job and this field of work.

I'm on the point of an educational meltdown here. I was wondering if there was anyone here who is an illustration major, or has some sort of art major concentrated on drawing/illustration. I've been going to community college part time for quite a while now, I want to move into an illustration program at a university. Location isn't important to me, a school with a solid program that produces good artists is something that I've been looking for. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

I have sent out over 50 resumes and a handfull of portfolios and have yet to hear back from anyone in any way shape or form. I want to get into game design as either a concept artist or some sort of artist in game design. my fall back is web design. any suggestions on good websites for finding jobs? Any sugestions on how to get the game companies to read my resume?

ZergCow posted:

I have sent out over 50 resumes and a handfull of portfolios and have yet to hear back from anyone in any way shape or form. I want to get into game design as either a concept artist or some sort of artist in game design. my fall back is web design. any suggestions on good websites for finding jobs? Any sugestions on how to get the game companies to read my resume?

If you're only sending out a handful of portfolios you might want to increase that to the number of resumes you're sending out. Also, if you could upload your portfolio onto a site or something for us to critique that would be helpful to you as well.

I would really like to get into event photography. I am going to upgrade my camera (Rebel XTi with 1.4 50mm lens) and I would like to get a little step into the field. I am still in high school so I think that's a problem. I go to concerts and whenever I approach a photographer to ask him/her how I can get into what he does they always brush me off thinking I am a joke.

I talked with someone who worked in the only local venue near me and they said they already have a professional photographer they hire, and they won't take internships. I live in the Jersey area if that helps. I would really like to take pictures at the beginning of the stage where the band plays at concerts because I can't risk my camera being broken if i'm in the crowed (99% chance it will), so I don't know how I can get a "concert" portfolio started. Can I please get some advice?

Edit: I am also familiar with the New York area, and I would definitely take a train there anytime if needed.

Positive Housemouse fucked around with this message at Aug 7, 2007 around 16:21

Positive Housemouse posted:

I would really like to get into event photography. I am going to upgrade my camera (Rebel XTi with 1.4 50mm lens) and I would like to get a little step into the field. I am still in high school so I think that's a problem. I go to concerts and whenever I approach a photographer to ask him/her how I can get into what he does they always brush me off thinking I am a joke.

I talked with someone who worked in the only local venue near me and they said they already have a professional photographer they hire, and they won't take internships. I live in the Jersey area if that helps. I would really like to take pictures at the beginning of the stage where the band plays at concerts because I can't risk my camera being broken if i'm in the crowed (99% chance it will), so I don't know how I can get a "concert" portfolio started. Can I please get some advice?

Edit: I am also familiar with the New York area, and I would definitely take a train there anytime if needed.

There isn't too much you can do until college, because age is a barrier, not to mention experience. If you volunteer with a college paper, that should earn you both experience and a nice portfolio. Also, because you can legitimately claim to be press, venues will let you into special sections where your camera is a lot safer.

Nihiliste posted:

There isn't too much you can do until college, because age is a barrier, not to mention experience. If you volunteer with a college paper, that should earn you both experience and a nice portfolio. Also, because you can legitimately claim to be press, venues will let you into special sections where your camera is a lot safer.

The only times I've really read about people making money in events (concerts etc) is by working for the venue even then it is typically low. Think this through, how are you really going to make money off a picture you take at a concert? The venue may want it for PR or a publication might want it for circulation. In that case you had best know the publications who will want the photos (your competition is probably high) or get to know the firm which owns the venue.

I know only one guy locally who does this at a few local blues clubs. He does it for free basically, because its fun for him. Big Canon with L glass, old retired guy who does photography now. Hard to compete with free.

I would like to see Chapter 2 of Same's post. I have been working on putting a portfolio together for about 3 months picking though projects and jobs and would love to hear exactly what an art director would be looking for.

I'm a recent graduate of a omputer based arts major with a BA. I'm kinda blah at a large variety of things, from web to 3d. How do I get better so I can get a job in my field, I have no idea what I wanna do, as I don't know where my talent lies really.

ZergCow posted:

I have sent out over 50 resumes and a handfull of portfolios and have yet to hear back from anyone in any way shape or form. I want to get into game design as either a concept artist or some sort of artist in game design. my fall back is web design. any suggestions on good websites for finding jobs? Any sugestions on how to get the game companies to read my resume?

Yeah , the same thing happened to me. I'm a 3d animator/rigger and I have been sending out emails with attached resumes and webite/demo reel links to lots of companies in the area on top of 2-3 follow-ups. However, I have only heard back from one developer (Harmonix) that were nice enough to tell me they aren't looking for anyone right now.

Also, I wouldn't mind some general advice into breaking out into the 3d field (I just graduated with a degree in CG).

Combat Shotgun posted:

Yeah , the same thing happened to me. I'm a 3d animator/rigger and I have been sending out emails with attached resumes and webite/demo reel links to lots of companies in the area on top of 2-3 follow-ups. However, I have only heard back from one developer (Harmonix) that were nice enough to tell me they aren't looking for anyone right now.

Also, I wouldn't mind some general advice into breaking out into the 3d field (I just graduated with a degree in CG).

Hey, same here. I have a BS in CG. I graduated in March and finished out an internship in May. My demo reel focuses on compositing mostly. I've been applying/emailing a lot of places and have a website up with my demo reel and what not. Since I have not yet gotten a job I have just been working on learning more skills such as architectural rendering with VRay. Does anyone have any advice that would help get my foot in the door?

As someone going into their senior year of the Visual Effects program at SCAD, I don't care what the word about SCAD has been in the past few years. The high price of SCAD tuition is seriously money well spent.

I just got back from the SIGGRAPH convention in San Diego, the mecca of CG artists and the like for the film and gaming industry and SCAD has a very intense presence in the industry. Not like a hand of god kind of presence where just being a SCAD student assures you way into the working world, but many times where I talked to people from Pixar and Industrial Light and Magic, whenever I mentioned I was a SCAD student, that person often went from just making conversation to actually engaged in the conversation. The industry really recognizes the education you get out here, and as far as the digital media aspects go, you are trained in the software that really matters, primarily Maya, Renderman, and Houdini. The professors for those particular packages, specifically Renderman (the proprietary Pixar renderer that just about everyone uses) and Houdini (a procedural based 3D app which specializes in dynamic sims) are more or less the cream in their field. Our Renderman professor, Malcolm Kesson, is currently in Norcal right now training Pixar recruits. He's training loving Pixar on its OWN software. Its serious poo poo.

If you're considering SCAD for any of our digital media programs, it should be near the top of your list. The only thing that will set you apart from anyone else here is your motivation, because the program is only as good as what you make of it, which tends to be the mantra for any art school anyway. You have to really REALLY REALLY want it, and I cannot stress that enough. There's so much competition out there and if you aren't sweating blood and bullets, clawing your way into the ranks of the elite, you're wasting your time. If you're in your third year of school here, and your major has not consumed your life by this point, you're probably not doing it right.

EDIT: Also, I'd like to point out that 9 times out of 10 (and this is in my own opinion) any kind of Game Design major is complete and utter bullshit waste of your time. If you really want to get somewhere with that, and not that I have any room to talk as I'm just a student too, I would recommend pursuing something such as Visual Effects as a major, since the technology that is being used to create effects for film ultimately trickle their way into real-time game engines anyway. You'll learn all of the techniques that go into creating amazing CG which also have their hand in games as well, and that is much more useful than dick-around surface scraping classes that often come accompanied with game design programs.

Trintintin posted:

Come September I will be at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) for my freshman undergraduate year. At the moment I'm confused on what major I should choose. I applied and got accepted to the school for there Broadcast Design and Motion Graphics program, but lately I haven't been able to find any student feedback or information on it. I decided that it was the program I wanted to major in after I talked extensively with a SCAD representative at a college fair around December of 2006.

Lately I've been looking into it and realized I would enjoy majoring in Visual Effects just as much as Broadcast Design and Motion Graphics. I was wondering if one major has a better job market, career opportunity, pay rate, ect. than the other post bachelors degree. I was hoping I could get some sort of insight on what a degree in Broadcast Design and Motion graphics could do for me compared to a Visual Effects degree.

Seeing as there seems to be a decent goon population at SCAD, any information on the school that could make my freshman year a bit easier is more than appreciated.

The fundamental difference between the BCST people and the VSFX people is that the BCST people are primarily After Effects users, because BCST is mostly about creating sweet motion graphics for commercials, title credits for TV and movies, etc. etc. and learning basic VSFX principles just to incorporate into those projects, such as learning to pull a green screen key, or maybe doing simple 3D composites.

While VSFX is definitely more 3D CG based, it also provides a much deeper understanding of the things that make BCST work. A lot of commercials and advertisement going on right now can be high-budget effects masterpieces (see Weta's giant rolling katamari ball of people commercial), and while not to paint motion graphics in After Effects as being simplistic or a small piece of the puzzle, the main thing is that the software is just a tool and what is really important is how you develop your artistic abilities in tandem with using the software. In SCAD's VSFX program, theres absolutely nothing stopping you from pursuing a motion graphics path, all the while learning a complex understanding of cameras, photorealistic CG, compositing, matte painting, etc. You even have something like 4 free electives that you can spend on whatever you want from any major you want, so if you're still interested in the BCST side of things, you can burn all of those electives on BCST classes.

ElecHeadMatt fucked around with this message at Aug 13, 2007 around 01:47

ElecHeadMatt posted:

Amazingly helpful information.

That helped a bunch and I most likely will be changing my major to Visual Effects. It seems to be a much more in depth program in the fields I'm interested in. What I was wondering is if it is important to have a basis in 3D modeling before entering the courses, or if going in with very little 3D knowledge is ok.

I've been told most of my first year is just basic curriculum with a few electives that relate to my major so I figure I can start to teach myself some 3D modeling in some free time. I was just wondering how much they really teach you and how much you should know before going into the classes.

Also as a last small question (sorry if I'm overloading you with dumb questions), I was wondering how technical the programming aspect of visual effects is. It was the only thing that threw up a warning flag to me when I was going over the courses involved with the major. I took a few programming classes in High school and did ok in them, but it was nothing complicated. In general I was wondering how much is taught and how much is expected to be learned in any art school, but especially SCAD. I already know more than the average person when it comes to video editing and drawing in general, because I see it as a hobby now. I was just curious if art school is more of a teaching you everything correctly, or refining skills you should already have.

Trintintin posted:

That helped a bunch and I most likely will be changing my major to Visual Effects. It seems to be a much more in depth program in the fields I'm interested in. What I was wondering is if it is important to have a basis in 3D modeling before entering the courses, or if going in with very little 3D knowledge is ok.

I've been told most of my first year is just basic curriculum with a few electives that relate to my major so I figure I can start to teach myself some 3D modeling in some free time. I was just wondering how much they really teach you and how much you should know before going into the classes.

It definitely won't hurt you to get as familiar with a 3D app before jumping into the VSFX program, but you are definitely are not required. I know people who walked in knowing nothing and in their senior year are producing some seriously excellent work. 3DS Max is a good program, but it generally only covered by the ITGM program (game design) and not even a whole lot. If you want to learn some 3D, go get yourself the trial or PLE of Maya.

Thats pretty accurate, your first year at SCAD will be spent learning basic foundation skills, drawing, design, color theory classes. You'll have to take a few Gen Ed classes, like Public Speaking and Composition as well. These classes aren't nearly as important as your major specific classes, obviously, and you'll have free time to work on building your 3D knowledge too, but don't blow them off either. Every class you take at SCAD will benefit you in one way or another. Even the art history classes, while totally boring and irrelevant to your work (probably) you never know who down the line you'll wind up impressing with your knowledge of German Expressionism or 19th century portraiture. Soak up the knowledge.

Trintintin posted:

Also as a last small question (sorry if I'm overloading you with dumb questions), I was wondering how technical the programming aspect of visual effects is. It was the only thing that threw up a warning flag to me when I was going over the courses involved with the major. I took a few programming classes in High school and did ok in them, but it was nothing complicated. In general I was wondering how much is taught and how much is expected to be learned in any art school, but especially SCAD. I already know more than the average person when it comes to video editing and drawing in general, because I see it as a hobby now. I was just curious if art school is more of a teaching you everything correctly, or refining skills you should already have.

Programming was sort of an alarm when I started getting into VSFX too, but by the end of it I found it to be one of the more interesting aspects of the program and is now what I'm trying to specialize in (specifically, procedural shader production.) Don't be afraid of it, your programming classes will be taught by either Dave Kaul, who is basically Napoleon Dynamite of VSFX at SCAD, or Malcolm Kesson, the guy I was speaking of in the last post. Learning from Malcolm is like learning kung fu straight from the grand master. He eases you into it very gently, is very plain english (with a very english accent) and easy to talk to and get along with, and is more or less the king of explaining things through diagrams on the white board. There is very little math involved, and what math IS involved will be explained to you at whatever level it is required, i.e. you won't learn math you don't need.

SCAD teaches you a hell of a lot, but like I said before, it is entirely dependant of what you put into it. You can breeze through every single class and make straight A's, but as long as your portfolio at the end of four years is crap it wont matter what grades you made. Studios want to see your work and what you're capable of. It is up to you to push the envelope in every class you take, go above and beyond the call of duty, and if pushing yourself into a perpetual state of overdrive isn't your thing, you may have a problem.

And there are no dumb questions! I'm happy to answer anything anyone is wondering about SCAD. Its a great school.

Thanks for all the help! Sadly it looks like I'm not going to be able to go to scad this year. I can't get a Federal loan because my cosigner, my mom, has too poor a credit history. I guess this gives me another year to make some money in the workforce and work on my 3D skills.

Jacob v posted:

I'm on the point of an educational meltdown here. I was wondering if there was anyone here who is an illustration major, or has some sort of art major concentrated on drawing/illustration. I've been going to community college part time for quite a while now, I want to move into an illustration program at a university. Location isn't important to me, a school with a solid program that produces good artists is something that I've been looking for. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

These are two good schools located in Cincinnati, OH. which might be close to you.

http://www.artacademy.edu/index.html
This school focusses mainly on artistic skill and expression and might be best for cultivating only drawing skills. If you are really interested in improving your artistic expression, I suggest this school. (It's also cheaper).

Trintintin posted:

Come September I will be at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) for my freshman undergraduate year. At the moment I'm confused on what major I should choose. I applied and got accepted to the school for there Broadcast Design and Motion Graphics program, but lately I haven't been able to find any student feedback or information on it.

My old roommate graduated a year or two ago from SCAD with a Broadcast Design degree and he had zero trouble finding a good job after school. He worked on video game menus for Ubisoft in CA, and then from there found a job at a very well known design firm that does Flash animations/website for clients large clients like Nike.

SCAD is a really, really great school so disregard whatever bullshit you hear people spout off sometimes (I have no idea where all the hate comes from). I am about to graduate and it was worth every penny.

quote:

I'd like to know how I can wedge my way into a portrait, product and/or fashion photography studio as an assistant. It's simple to find a wedding photographer who needs help, but I can hardly get a foot in the door anywhere else.

Just call photographers in your area and tell them you are available and send them a resume. Also call any agencies (that represent photographers) or production companies and let them know too. I interned at an agency in NYC and we would get resumes every once in a while, I would just add their names and numbers to an office-wide spreadsheet (new people at the bottom, assistants their photographers liked at the top). When we needed an assistant for a shoot I would just go down the list and call people until someone answered and said they were available.

My tip for getting assisting jobs is to ANSWER YOUR GODDAMN PHONE. Where I worked the assistant list was 40+ names and on most days I would have to call most of the list to get someone just to answer, it was ridiculous. When you're starting out, maybe offer to work for free for a day as an extra 2nd or 3rd assistant to start learning different lighting systems and get your feet wet. Once you get your foot in the door just work hard and always show up on time and you'll get jobs, assisting isn't particularly hard but it is a lot of fun and a good way to make contacts in the industry.

Look on blackbook.com and check with your local ASMP chapter to find photographers. If you join your local ASMP they'll put you on a list of assistants that they send around to members.

I am a senior photo student at SCAD if anyone has questions about that.

You must have been the Dance Commander.. giving out the orders for fun.

OFFER: Graphic Design position in Southern California

COME SEE AND WORK WITH SOME BAD rear end poo poo! We here at Sideshow Collectibles do cool stuff for Marvel, Star Wars, The Lord of The Rings, Terminator, Predator, Aliens, Buffy and more.

Description:
Full-time mid to senior-level Graphic Designer (print) needed for a fast paced Thousand Oaks based collectibles company. We’re looking for a creative mind, with the technical skills to turn concepts into reality, and the ability to take a leading role within the department. Must have expert knowledge of Mac OS X.4 along with the standard graphic software suite (Adobe CS3: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc.) and a working knowledge of the MS Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) is a plus. Full range package design experience (from concept sketch, to execution, to 4-color offset printing) are ideal. Talent and personality are key in our award-winning design team. Please email resume, salary history and any links to online portfolios and include “Graphics” in the subject line to evolve555 at hotmail dot com or PM me.

We are looking for a mid to senior-level graphic designer for our Graphic Arts Department with a creative mind, willing to learn and expand their horizons, and work within a team environment. The department is responsible for all product packaging, marketing collateral, trade show graphics, print product accessories, annual book, and more.

The designer should be fluent with the Adobe Creative Suite, including Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Additional knowledge of the MS Office suite is helpful. Knowledge of 4C offset printing, flexograph printing, pre-press, color manipulation and product photography are preferred. The designer should also be comfortable in a Mac OS 10 environment and familiar with PCs. Creative ability is essential, technical skills are important, but personality is key.

Sideshow offers medical benefits, a 401K plan and an extraordinary work environment.

Qualifications:
Adobe CS: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign
Microsoft Office: Entourage, Word, Excel
Excellent design sense
Able to work in a team environment
Able to effectively give direction and mentor, while also being able to take direction
Organized and efficient

same posted:

http://www.tofslie.com/dump/resumeexample.pdf

I really love that 2 column resume design (and plan on using it or something like it next month at my school's career fair), but I do have one question. Is there any design reasons that the margin so big between the two? My first impression is that it's a lot of wasted space, but I'm just an armchair designer

same posted:

6: Web Designer vs Web developer, the real truth.

I would like some more information on this... I've been looking into web design and from what I understand is basically the web designer would actually do the design aethetics/layouts in Photoshop and probably put it together in basic html or Flash. The web developer would be the programmer who would actually put together the site properly using HTML, XHTML, DHTML, CSS, PHP, ASP, mysql, Actionscripts, etc.

Most job listings I see for "web designer" require you to know all these programming languages... basically being both designer and developer. I'm wondering how much code/programming should a designer know? Right now, I only know HTML, xHTML, CSS, and some basic actionscripting in Flash.

ElecHeadMatt posted:

EDIT: Also, I'd like to point out that 9 times out of 10 (and this is in my own opinion) any kind of Game Design major is complete and utter bullshit waste of your time.

I've been hearing this a lot, and it makes me concerned. I'm not actually interested in game design, but I'm in a "game design"-esque major because I couldn't find anything better in-state for what I actually want to do, which is animation (2D or 3D, but 2D preferred), special effects, production design, etc. in my state of Texas. I visited the Art Institute of Houston once, and was not impressed. Thus, I go to the University of Texas at Dallas and study Arts and Technology.

Nearly any time that isn't used for eating/sleeping/studying is put forward to improving my skills and portfolio. However, I'm increasingly worried that I'm in the wrong spot, or that I'm not getting programs that compliment and help me develop skill.

How much is where you attended school valued versus your portfolio? Say, an ace portfolio from Small Name Art College versus a slightly less than ace portfolio from Ringling or SCAD?

Does anyone know of a reputable art school close to/around the Texas area or in the South? Something that's respected within the industry, I mean. Both Ringling and SCAD I've heard good things about, but being so far away sort of makes me uncomfortable, honestly.

Not Zilon fucked around with this message at Aug 29, 2007 around 01:23

RiceTaco posted:

I would like some more information on this... I've been looking into web design and from what I understand is basically the web designer would actually do the design aethetics/layouts in Photoshop and probably put it together in basic html or Flash. The web developer would be the programmer who would actually put together the site properly using HTML, XHTML, DHTML, CSS, PHP, ASP, mysql, Actionscripts, etc.

Most job listings I see for "web designer" require you to know all these programming languages... basically being both designer and developer. I'm wondering how much code/programming should a designer know? Right now, I only know HTML, xHTML, CSS, and some basic actionscripting in Flash.

Same and I seem to have differing opinions on the subject of Dev vs. Designer, but I think it's mostly due to the differing experiences we've had in the design field. I'm also based in the PNW but in our city finding a job that is strictly design, with no production, is really difficult. Basically you have to move up to the level of creative director to step out of the production game altogether. Most of those job requirements you see that are (basically) looking for a Art Director with a CS degree...In my opinion that's pretty unrealistic.

There are people out there who can do it all, but they're few and far between. The best way to find out what the employer is really looking for is to get in touch with them. Don't break the rules of their ad listing, but if you can manage to talk to someone there, usually they'll give you a rundown of what the job really entails. In my experience the HR people just throw in all kinds of mumbo jumbo and jargon into the ads without it really representing the kind of person an agency needs.

In my current capacity I'll often provide design comps for a project, then take the approved comp and turn it into an HTML site with CSS. I'll build the Flash elements and do what scripting I can (I'm a mid-level actionscripter) but most the sites we do end up going to a developer anyways to tie in database functionality with CMS stuff, and add any high-level dynamic functionality to the flash pieces we do. I don't really know any programming other than AS, and eventually I'd like to get out of the production end of things, but around here at least it seems to be a long hard road.

I'm looking to get into animation, and I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about the schools in and around Toronto? I'm specifically interested in traditional animation and stop-motion, if possible. As far as I can tell, Sheridan's the only one that does stop-motion.

I have three cousins that went to Sheridan College, and they say it's the best choice for animation, and it's a four-year bachelor program. Seneca also has an animation program, which sounds good in its description, though I don't really have much interest in computer animation. And this weekend at the comic convention I was handed a flyer for Max the Mutt Animation School, and it looks pretty decent as well.

One advantage I see for Seneca, and possibly Max the Mutt, is that it would be cheaper than a 4-year program at Sheridan. So I'm wondering if anyone knows of any other schools or which of these three programs is the best? I tried googling and all I found were dozens of computer animation and gaming schools, but no regular animation. I also don't want to have to move much farther than Toronto, and I live in Waterloo right now.

I followed your advice in the first post about resume layout. My CV initially looked like one of the word templates (without the boxes, but everything left-flush). My best friend (Mac tech support) and my aunt (Human Resources) help me adjust the contents of the resume so that it would best showcase my graphic art experience in my previous employment. I then used InDesign to recreate your layout and to plug in my data.

I sent this resume to my best friend at her office. She had told a coworker that a friend was looking for graphic arts work, so the coworker asked for a copy of my resume. She called me later to say that her coworker hand-carried my resume into her boss's office. The supervisor also mentioned that it looked very impressive.

If this lands me a job, and they like my portfolio pieces, then I thank you in advance. I will give you credit for the inspiration if anyone asks.

PS: Your website is very impressive.

The Iron Giant fucked around with this message at Aug 29, 2007 around 17:40

General Ripper posted:

I'm looking to get into animation, and I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about the schools in and around Toronto? I'm specifically interested in traditional animation and stop-motion, if possible. As far as I can tell, Sheridan's the only one that does stop-motion.

I have three cousins that went to Sheridan College, and they say it's the best choice for animation, and it's a four-year bachelor program. Seneca also has an animation program, which sounds good in its description, though I don't really have much interest in computer animation. And this weekend at the comic convention I was handed a flyer for Max the Mutt Animation School, and it looks pretty decent as well.

One advantage I see for Seneca, and possibly Max the Mutt, is that it would be cheaper than a 4-year program at Sheridan. So I'm wondering if anyone knows of any other schools or which of these three programs is the best? I tried googling and all I found were dozens of computer animation and gaming schools, but no regular animation. I also don't want to have to move much farther than Toronto, and I live in Waterloo right now.

Ripper, I graduated from St. Clair college back in 2003 from their Tradigital Animation program and would have to say, unless it has sharpened up STAY AWAY! Although I was the first graduating class, i found that we weren't given an accurate description of what the job market was like. There were a few talented people to graduate but for the most part, the people that I've stayed in touch with, are struggling financially and emotionally. As far as schools, IMO there really isn't a better school in Canada for animation than Sheridan. It is quite tough to get in, but if your good, then giver....I can say I know much about their program, but after I graduated i spent some time in San Francisco. I ran into a few 3D artists and explained, I'd graduated from an animation program in Canada. Most of their first questions were, "oh Sheridan?" That to me says alot in regards to their recognizability in the industry.
If animation is something you truly desire, I would suggest going full bore into trying to get into Sheridan. The business isn't always as glamorous as one would hope starting out. With that said working at Dreamworks would be pretty drat cool. I believe that they have a pre-animation course that would be a stepping stone into the program that you could attend. I hope that helps?!

Anal Wink posted:

I really love that 2 column resume design (and plan on using it or something like it next month at my school's career fair), but I do have one question. Is there any design reasons that the margin so big between the two? My first impression is that it's a lot of wasted space, but I'm just an armchair designer

I think you could probably go a little bit wider, but leaving a good space between gives really good separation and makes your eye not wander between the two back and forth too much, not knowing what to read. This makes you pick a column and focus on it until you are ready to move on. Resting places and white space for your eye ..... is a godo thing